Hidden Love
by pagina16
Summary: Hatsuharu Sohma has spent his whole life alone, but one day in the lunchline will change his life forever.HaruOC
1. Chapter 1 Painful Memories

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Absolutely nothing…except Lila, Risu, Kiki and Nozomi.Yeah.Other than that I own nothing.

Hidden Love  a Fruits Basket Fan Fiction

Chapter 1- Painful Memories

"You're a freak!"

The words echoed in his soul like those of a church bell resounding in the empty halls of a cathedral. It had been ten long years since his mother spat those words at him in disgust and the five year old was turning into a young man. "Mommy, are you ok?" The timid little toddler clung to his blue "Cow's rule!" blanket and stared at his crazed, sick-looking mother unblinkingly. "No, no I'm not ok! I can't handle it anymore, Haru! I can't handle taking care of you anymore! You're…you're…you're a freak!"

Tears clung to his lashes as he watched his pale mother clutch the chair before collapsing onto it in a heavy fit of coughing. His mother was dying and there was nothing he could do but watch, watch and feel guilty. After all, it was his fault his mother was dying. She had been dying for five years. Ever since that fateful night when he was born and his father disappeared.

Tama Sohma was once a beautiful woman; full of life and happiness. She and her new husband Aikiu Sohma were very much in love. When they found out that they would soon have a son or daughter they were overjoyed. But no sooner had their son been born and his mother hugged him with joy that they found the true curse that had been bestowed upon them. For no sooner had Tama hugged him, he turned into an ox.

Yes, the newborn baby, deemed Hatsuharu Sohma, turned into a tiny baby calf. This was something that Aikiu and Tama had been dreading, but you couldn't blame them; looking at the rest of their family. Generation after generation of Sohmas, there were always thirteen people who were cursed like this newborn. The curse dated back to the ancient Chinese zodiac. The story about the twelve animals of the zodiac has been passed down since its creation. That story goes like this:

Once upon a time, God told all the animals "I am inviting you all to my banquet tomorrow, don't be late!" Hearing that the mischievous rat lied to his neighbor, the cat, and told him the banquet would be the day after tomorrow. The next day the rat rode on the back of the ox and nimbly landed before the banquet hall. After him followed the ox, the tiger, and all the rest and together they feasted until morning. All except the cat, who had been tricked and was waiting at home asleep, dreaming of a feast that was already over.

Those twelve animals that attended the feast became the twelve animals of the zodiac. The Ram, ox, snake, tiger, boar, dog, dragon, horse, rooster, rabbit, monkey, and the rat. All but the cat, which was considered an outsider.

Soon it came to be that the thirteen vengeful spirits of the zodiac-this includes the cat- began to possess thirteen members of the Sohma family. As long as all thirteen members were alive, expectant parents need not worry. For it was only when a possessed member died, that a newborn became part of the zodiac legend. This is what happened the night our young hero was born.

That was ten years ago; ten years almost to the day, in fact. The new born was grown up and in his freshman year of school. Hatsuharu Sohma, to anyone who did not know of his secret, was now a normal boy of fifteen. He went to a normal high school and interacted with normal high school students. But his heart was filled with grief when he thought of his horrific past and the secret he hid that would make any normal person's stomach turn.

For the most part, Haru kept to himself. He never let anyone outside the Sohma clan into his life, or into his heart. Until one day in the lunch line.


	2. Chapter 2 New Beginnings

Chapter 2—New Beginnings

"Haru, Haru, wake up!"

Haru awoke to the calm, soothing voice of his cousin Yuki. He had almost forgotten he was at Yuki's house. It was the day after their summer holiday and Haru had decided to stay there and go with Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru-kun in the morning, rather than go back to the main house.

Haru got up, dressed quickly, and headed downstairs where he could smell the delicious breakfast Tohru made, cooking and sizzling. "Good morning."

He looked around to see who was up. It was everyone by the looks of it. Kyo just grunted a hello, Yuki smiled softly at him; Shigure didn't even look up from his coffee and paper. Tohru was the only one who actually greeted him.

"Good morning Haru-kun! Please have some breakfast! You'll need it to keep up your strength!" She was too chipper. But she was always like that so Haru had gotten used to it, although sometimes she got on his nerves. It was at those moments where he had to stop himself and calm down before he went 'black'.

You see, Haru was normally very kind and quiet and peaceful, except when he got really upset and turned 'black'. When he became what the Sohmas began calling 'Black Haru', he was crazed, uncontrollable, and he would tear the place apart. Because of this, he was often seen as two people, not one: Black Haru and White Haru.

"Well," Shigure said as everyone finished their breakfast, "you best be off! Don't want you to be late, and don't want me to be distracted. Which I will definitely be with Tohru-kun here." Haru watched as Kyo lunged for Shigure, who laughed heartily as he ran off. Tohru blushed, and Yuki sighed. It was just a normal day at the Sohma house.

The first part of the day flew by without any abnormalities. When the lunch hour rolled around, Haru got in line. He was busy looking around the cafeteria and did not notice a cheerful, black-haired, blue-eyed girl in an apron come up beside him.

"What would you like?" Haru jumped a mile in shock and turned around to face the girl, who giggled softly. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you!" The girl giggled again, and then as if she just remembered why she was there, she asked again. "What would you like?" She offered him some sort of hamburger product; he looked at it with disgust.

"Umm…no thanks."

Judging by the look on his face the girl let out an 'oh' and then smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry! You must be a vegetarian!" Before Haru could protest she shoved a vegetable platter under his nose and continued in a voice of utter excitement. "Wow! I've never met a vegetarian before! Have you always been a vegetarian? Or is this something you are experimenting with? Is it hard? Do you ever give in and eat meat? Do you eat or drink dairy products? Because I've heard of some vegetarians that don't eat or drink dairy products."

Haru looked at her, a little overwhelmed. She reminded him of someone; someone who was very annoying. He couldn't think of who it was but decided not to worry about it and continued down the line. To his dismay, the girl continued to follow him as he got the rest of his lunch and continued to ask him question after question after question. After a long flow of questions, Haru interrupted her, he knew he was close to going 'black' but he didn't care. "Look, just stop! I am not a vegetarian! I just don't eat hamburger! Now leave me alone you annoying little twit!"

The girl stared in shock as Haru flung his lunch tray across the room, kicking the nearest chair, and flipping the closest table on its back. He stormed out of the lunch room and down the hall, kicking the front door of the school open and walking down the steps.

He was so upset that he did not notice a black-haired, blue-eyed girl following him at a quick pace. After awhile he heard the pitter-patter of someone else's feet. He turned so quickly that the girl almost ran into him. He leapt back so they did not touch, and then turned on her with an evil, almost wicked, glare.

"What do you want?! Why are you following me? Did I not make myself clear? Is there some part of 'Leave me alone!' that doesn't make sense to you or are you just stupid?!" Haru expected the girl to cry or run away or both. What he had not expected was what she actually did; she laughed.

Haru couldn't believe it. This strange girl had laughed! After he called her an annoying twit, stupid, and told her to leave him alone, she actually laughed! He took a step back and gazed at the girl in amazement.

She smiled at him and spoke, her voice was not as annoying as before, but it had softened. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to annoy you. I just get excited about things sometimes."

Haru sighed, he was calm now and he realized he had overreacted. "Why are you following me?"

The girl smiled and giggled softly. "I wanted to make sure you were ok. You kind of freaked in there." The girl's smile was contagious and soon Haru felt the corners of his lips turn up and the rest of his mouth followed suit. Her smile brightened even more at the sight of this and she stuck out her hand for him to shake, "Hi! I'm Lila, Lila Aso. Nice to meet you!" Haru took her hand hesitantly, "I'm Hatsuharu Sohma."

"Sohma, like prince Yuki?! I've never actually met him, but he sounds interesting. Are you related to him?"

"Yeah, he's my cousin."

"Wow! So does that make you a prince? Cause you don't really look like a prince."

Haru chuckled slightly and began to walk around. Thinking he was going to walk off without answering her question, Lila followed him. She began to hum to herself, then her foot caught on a large rock and with a sharp intake of breath, she fell onto Haru. She immediately felt the short hair of something that wasn't human. She opened her eyes to find herself clinging to a large, black and white cow.

Lila just stood there, clinging to cow-Haru in awe and shock. She had not been expecting this. "Oh…oh…H…umm…"

The cow did something else that was unexpected as his turning into a cow, he spoke. "Um…I can explain…just, please, don't yell…"

Lila took a few steps back, her mouth forming into a perfect circle. "What—holy cow!!" She blushed quickly, and then plastered a false smile on her face, "Umm…no offense!"

Haru began to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach. This had happened to him once before, when he was four years old. He was running and playing with this little girl, she tripped and fell on him, just as Lila had done. Only that time other people had been around.

Akito Sohma, the head of the Sohma family, had every single one of those people's memories erased, even the little girl. After that, Haru was all alone. His mother died shortly after and no one else wanted to be his friend. He was constantly made fun of because of the story of the zodiac, since the rat rode on the ox's back.

This would be just like that day…No! Haru wouldn't let it happen. He felt something odd…he felt a freedom of sorts. He took a step towards her, speaking softly as he did.

"Look, I can explain."

"This…is…so…cool!"

It was now Haru's turn to stare in shock. Did she really just say what he thought she said?

"What?" Haru, for once in his life, was speechless.

"I said this is so cool! I mean, I have never met anyone that could turn into a cow before! I've seen it on those magic shows though, but they always turned someone into an airplane or an elephant, never a cow!" Lila gasped, "Are you a magician?!"

After Haru calmed Lila down, they spent the next class period discussing his past, and the future. Lila agreed not to tell, and Haru agreed the same.

Haru had gotten a taste of a freedom, a freedom that had now become a part of him. This freedom was a sign of joy, happiness, relationships, and most important; this freedom, even if it only lasted a day, was a sign of hope.


	3. Chapter 3 New discoveries

Chapter 3—New discoveries

The next morning, Haru got up earlier than the others. He was going to school early to clean up the mess he had made during lunch the day before. He had only been walking a few minutes, enjoying the quiet, when he heard the now-familiar pitter-patter of Lila's small feet.

"Wait up, Haru-kun!" He turned around to see her approaching him, her long, black hair flowing behind her. She smiled as she caught up to him. "Hello, you're going to school early…why?" He noticed her hair was pulled out of her face by a delicate strand of lace that matched her piercing blue eyes.

"I figured I should go and clean up the cafeteria, since I made such a mess of it yesterday."

Lila's eyes lit up and her smile widened. "Wow! That is so nice, Haru-kun! I'll go with you!" She smiled at him as she shifted her books uncomfortably. "That is, if you don't mind the company."

Haru smiled softly, "No, that's ok. So why are you coming in so early?" He noticed she was having a difficult time balancing her books. With a quick, graceful move, he took her books, placing them on top of his own.

"Thanks! The reason I am coming in early is simple: I have to get out of my house."

He had expected her to be coming in for some sort of extra credit thing—he didn't know why, she had never appeared to be a geek or something.—"Really, why?"

She looked sort of saddened at this thought, but quickly smiled. "Because my mom's boyfriend is always over and he doesn't like me very much." They walked for the next few moments in silence. Lila soon began to hum to herself. The tune sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. "What song is that?"

Her smile brightened, "It's an old lullaby my mother used to sing to me. She didn't have the greatest voice, but when she sang this song…it was always so beautiful." Haru looked at her in awe.

"It's beautiful…it sounds familiar…oh, here we are." They had arrived at the school in what seemed like no time flat. Lila marched up to the doors; or rather she skipped, and tried to open them. "It's locked…"

Haru smiled at her, "well, of course it's locked. They don't unlock it until ten minutes till. Come on, there's a window we can get in through over here." He took her hand and led her over to a window where she could see a deserted hallway.

"We're going through there?" Lila looked at him apprehensively. "Yup, come on." He pushed the window open, sliding in, and then helped her through before replacing the window. "Ok…" he said, "The cafeteria is this way."

They walked in silence to the cafeteria. They were almost to the cafeteria when Lila whispered softly, "This place is creepy with no students…" She smiled up at him as he muttered his response.

"This place is creepy with the students, as well." She chuckled and nodded her head in agreement. "That's true…not necessarily the school…but the students."

They turned the corner and Haru peered into the cafeteria through the locked doors. He couldn't believe what he saw. The entire cafeteria was spotless. "Wow…I've never seen the cafeteria look so clean."

Haru could've sworn he saw Lila blush slightly, but he just shrugged it off as another weird thing she did. "So, umm…now what?" She asked, still not looking at him.

"Well, I guess we can go outside and hang out until school starts." They walked back to the window, and after climbing through, they walked out to the courtyard of the school. He sat down under a tree and looked up at the sky. Lila sat on the bench and looked at him. A few minutes passed before either of them spoke.

"So…if you turn into a cow…then does that mean that Yuki and kyo…can turn into animals as well?" She asked timidly, gazing at him from the bench.

He had told her about his past, but hadn't mentioned any of the others until he knew if she could be trusted. "Yes." He said smiling up at her. "There are ten others besides Yuki, Kyo, and I."

Her eyes widened, "Like the zodiac…thirteen? So that means one is the cat!"

Haru nodded, "Kyo… Yuki is the rat…do you know momiji? Well, he is the rabbit. The man I live with when staying with Yuki, his name is Shigure, is the dog…"

"I am the rabbit! Oh my goodness! I knew there was a reason why Momiji and I got along so well!"

It all made sense to him now, Lila had reminded him of someone; someone he now recognized as momiji. "I thought there was something familiar about you." He grinned and began to whistle a tune of no importance or recognition. They sat like that until students began to arrive. They then got up and when inside the school.

"Oh, did you know, we have a new teacher starting today. Her name is…Mrs. Okida."

"Really, what does she teach?"

Before Lila could respond the cafeteria lady cam up and smiled at her, handing Lila a little lotus flower. "To say thank you, for cleaning the cafeteria for me when I had to run out for a bit."

Lila blushed as Haru turned sharply to look at her. "Thanks, Madame Okitaka." With a wave of her hand, she hurried off, leaving a blushing Lila and a gaping Haru.

"Lila…I can't believe you did that…wow."

"Please, it was nothing…I just was helping out Madame Okitaka."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. He couldn't believe she would do that for him, he knew even though she said she did it for Madame Okitaka, she really did it for him.

He followed the rest of the way to class and took his seat next to her, when a short, impish-looking woman cam in and rapped on the desk with her pointer. "Settle down." The words fell with no real reason, as no one in the class was talking. "Now then, I am Mrs. Okida. I am your new history teacher. Before we begin I would just like to say that this is not your time to play or chit-chat amongst yourselves. This is my time. As such, I expect to hear no one except myself. If I ask a question, you are to stand up when you are called on. If you know an answer or have a question, you must raise your hand. Are we clear?"

She waited a moment and when no one answered, she shook her head and said softly but clearly, "Tsk, tsk. The correct answer would be 'Yes, Mrs. Okida, we understand you perfectly'." The class responded, except for Haru, who muttered under his breath to Lila.

"Mr.…" She looked at her list of names, "Mr. Sohma, I do believe you need to spend a little extra time learning this lesson." She handed him a sheet of paper. "You will turn this and the assignment back into me tomorrow. Both will be signed and dated by a parent or guardian. Is that understood?"

He looked up at her and gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe she just did that! "Yes, Mrs. Okida."

She smiled at him. Her smile was annoying and reminded him of a mouse. "Good, now, everyone turn to page 3 of your books and we will begin our lesson."

It seemed like an eternity before the bell rang, freeing them from Mrs. Okida's hold. In the 45 minutes they were in there, she had given out five other slips like his, and assigned the class a full- 2 page- essay on 'Why we should follow Mrs. Okida's rules.'

The rest of the morning went by without any trouble, and when lunch came around, he and Lila found a seat together. "So you aren't working in the lunch line today?" He looked at her questioningly as he set his tray next to hers.

"No, I only help out on the first day."

"Oh, that's—" Haru got cut off as they heard a shrill "Haru! Lila!"

They both looked up to see a grinning momiji coming towards them, bouncing like the little rabbit he was.

"Hello, Momiji-kun!" Lila smiled at him as he set his tray down right in between them.

"Hey!" Haru grunted as momiji wiggled in between them. Momiji ignored him and continued to grin at Lila. "Haru told me you know our secret! I'm so happy! Now I have two friends who know!" Lila turned to look at Haru, "I can't believe you told! What if—"

"Akito," Haru interrupted, "won't find out. Momiji won't tell and I haven't told anyone else." Momiji just nodded mutely, still grinning at her. She sighed and began to eat her lunch.


	4. Chapter 4 Friends

Chapter 4—Friends

"Hey, Lila! Wait up!"

Lila turned around to see her friend, kiki, running along the hall towards her. She stopped and waited until kiki came to a halt next to her.

"Hello, Kiki how was your second day?"

Kiki smiled and fanned herself as she tried to catch her breath. "It was good. I had to help Mr. Watinaka during lunch, but I heard that you ate lunch with Hatsuharu and Momiji Sohma!"

Lila just nodded and Kiki squealed. "But Haru-san is the most popular, cutest guy in our grade! Even with his freak-outs!" Lila just stared at her, trying to hide her blush. "So? He is actually pretty nice."

"Pretty nice?" Kiki looked at her in awe, "Pretty nice? Just the other day he yelled at you, called you a twit, and tore the cafeteria apart! And you think he is 'pretty nice'?!"

Kiki finally noticed the blush and smiled. "Oh…I get it. You like him!" She immediately began to prance around Lila, singing, "Lila loves Haru! She wants to be Mrs. Haru Sooohma! She loooves him—"

"What are you doing?"

They both looked over to see their friend, Nozomi, walking toward them. Kiki immediately stopped prancing and stood still, grinning from ear to ear. After saying a proper hello, Nozomi turned toward kiki. "What exactly were you doing when I walked up?"

Kiki just grinned, "Oh, nothing, Zoë, nothing at all."

Lila could've sworn she saw smoke pouring out of Nozomi's ears. "Do not call me Zoë, Kohaku! My name is Nozomi! Not Zoë, not Zo, or No-no or Zomi! No-zo-mi!"

Kiki paled at the mention of her full name. She hated being called Kohaku. "Oh, ok! Sorry, Nozomi!"

Lila looked around suddenly before turning to Nozomi and Kiki, "Has anyone seen Risu?" They both shook their heads and Nozomi spoke up, "I think she called in sick today."

Lila and Kiki nodded, Risu had been calling in sick a lot last year and it must have carried over this year as well. Kirisutina, Nozomi, and Kohaku were Lila's best friends and had been since they were toddlers. Ever since Lila could remember, they were always there. Her earliest memory of the four of them was when she was four years old. A new little boy had moved in and was very, well, she wanted to say mean but she couldn't remember. All she remembered was sitting up in her room and crying and Nozomi, Risu, and Kiki trying to cheer her up. She couldn't imagine her life without them, and she didn't know what she would do if something ever happened to them. If only she knew the sorrow her future held.


	5. Chapter 5 Afternoon Visitations

Chapter 5—Afternoon visitations

"Haru, Haru! Come quick!"

Haru looked up from his homework to see Hatori running into the room. It had been a month since he had first met Lila; a month of early morning walks to school and afternoon trips to the park. Lila had become his closest friend this past month and it made him truly happy.

"Hatori, what's wrong?" He had never seen Hatori this frantic before.

Hatori leaned over, resting on his knees. "A-Akito wants to s-see you…now!"

Haru paled and stood up quickly and quietly. Something was definitely wrong if Akito wanted to see him. He pondered over what Akito could possibly want to see him for, but nothing came to mind, except Lila. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach as he walked into the main house and towards Akito's chambers. What if Akito had somehow found out about Lila? What would happen to him? What would happen to Lila? His mind raced as he knocked lightly on the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in."

He immediately heard Akito's quiet, but demanding voice and he opened the door and walked in to see Akito sitting by the window, gazing at the door.

"Hello, Hatsuharu. Please, come in. I am so happy to see you."

Maybe it was the chillness of his voice or the look he gave Haru, but Haru highly doubted that Akito was truly happy to see him.

"Please sit down, Hatsuharu."

Haru walked slowly towards Akito and sat down. His hand was shaking and he could not stop it. He looked up from his hand to find Akito sitting directly in front of him.

"Do you know why I have asked you here, Hatsuharu?"

Haru shook his head and responded. "No, Akito-san."

"I have asked you here because it has come to my attention that you have been keeping a secret from me. I have been told, by someone who will remain nameless, that you have made a new friend this last month. A Miss Lila Aso, I believe? What troubles me, Hatsuharu, is that you felt the need to keep this friendship a secret from me."

Haru paled and began to speak, but Akito silenced him with a wave of his pale hand.

"So, I began to ask myself why you would hide this from me; and the only conclusion I could come to that seemed reasonable was that Miss Aso found out. Am I correct?"

Haru looked at the floor, not saying a word. Until, finally, he looked up at Akito and nodded. "Yes, she found out."

Akito smiled slyly and stood up, moving over to Haru. "That's what I thought. Hatsuharu, it pains me to hear that. On two accounts, it pains me. One, that you would lie to me and two, that you would be as foolish as to trust some pathetic outsider,"

"She's not path—"

The words were cut off by the pale hand of Akito swinging viciously across to backhand him. "Quiet, insolent fool! You dare speak to me? What would a worm like you know about anything…anything at all…?"

The words were a whispered hiss of utter contempt. Akito moved behind Haru, jerking his head back painfully, his nails raking into the tender scalp.

"Did you really think you could keep it from me?"

Unexpectedly, Akito released his grip, and Haru almost fell from the chair. Quiet, malicious laughter echoed around the room. In the long seconds following it, Haru watched Akito's hand as it rose again. The blows that followed were pain upon pain, washing over him and leaving sick, retching ache deep in the part of his abdomen.

The blood dripped unnoticed from hiss broken nose and mixed with the spit that drooled from the numbed side of his mouth. Haru spat out the broken bits of took and probed the jagged edges gently with his tongue. With great difficulty he focused on the evil face before him.

"But you didn't learn it from me, did you…?"

Akito's own face was unreadable as he drew back for a final blow and a vast blackness roared up to meet Haru. A thin whisper sparkled through the darkness, like a snake chasing Haru as he teetered on the edge of consciousness, "Fool, all roads lead to me…" Akito's laughter was swallowed in the greater darkness that covered the world and mercifully, the pain as well.

HL

"Hi, Risu…Are you feeling better?"

Lila quietly walked into the crisp, almost too-bright, hospital room. She had been there almost all day and she knew she would be back the next day. The day before she had gotten a call from Risu's mother saying that she was in the hospital. After school, she rushed to the hospital. After school, she rushed to the hospital to find the room almost deserted, save for an old woman who was sitting in the corner, her knitting needles steadily clacking away, never ceasing. The woman didn't look up from her work, never acknowledging the presence of someone new.

When Lila walked into the room today, she immediately heard the soft clicking of the old woman's needles. Again, the woman paid no mind to her. If it weren't for the clicking of her needles, Lila would've thought the woman dead.

"Hi, Risu…are you feeling any better?"

Risu looked slowly over at her, trying to smile, but she was too tired. Lila smiled softly, "No need to respond. I brought you something." She walked over to the bed, taking a seat in the cold, uncomfortable hospital chair. She opened her bag and pulled out a thick, worn book whose title read, "Emma" by Jane Austen.

"Your favorite. Would you like me to read some to you?" Risu shook her head, whispering softly, "No…I need to sleep."

Lila nodded and moved toward the door but stopped when her gaze fell on the old woman. She walked over to her cautiously. "Umm…hello." Lila took another step towards the woman, who still did not direct her gaze towards anything but her knitting.

"Umm…I'm Lila, Risu's friend…"

She furrowed her brow as she took another cautious step towards the mysterious woman. "Are you Risu's grandmother?"

The old woman nodded, never ceasing, never diverting her gaze. "I am."

This statement worried Lila. In the entire time Lila knew Risu, there was never a time she could remember that other relatives visited Risu.

"Are you here to stay?"

The woman finally looked up and Lila took a step back. Something about her eyes took Lila off guard, and not just because one was blue and the other was green. There was something about her gaze when she looked at Lila. It was like she was gazing into her innermost being.

"I stay for as long as I am needed."

Lila nodded, and then looked back at the woman. "And how long will that be?"

The woman's eyes fell onto hers and again Lila felt like the woman was gazing into her soul.

"That all depends on you, my dear."

Lila paled and walked backwards, towards the door, before turning around and running out of the hospital. Something about that statement scared Lila and she didn't like it. On the way home, Lila's mind raced as she tried to comprehend what the old woman meant. Why did it all depend on her? She felt queasy and turned around, walking back the other direction towards Yuki's house, hoping with ever fiber of her being that Haru was there.

A/n: Ok some might get mad that I didn't use a Japanese book…but the friends in this story are based on three of my real life friends and Risu is based on my friend Christina and her favorite book is Emma so that is why it is in there.


	6. Chapter 6 Realization

Disclaimer—I own nothing but my girls. I wish it wasn't so but it is.

Chapter 6- Realization

Haru awoke to a damp cloth being pressed against his face. He groaned as the pain swept over him. It was then that he heard a voice break through the pain. This voice, unlike the cold, hateful voce of Akito, was kind, warm, loving, and even a bit sorrowful.

"Oh, Haru! Finally, you're awake!"

He opened his eyes to find a weepy girl staring down at him. "Rin? What are you doing—"He got cut off suddenly by Rin throwing herself against him and hugging him tightly. "Oh, Haru!! I am so sorry! I didn't…I didn't know he would do that to you! I'm—I'm sorry!!"

Haru looked at her in shock, pushing her away. "W-what? You were the one who told Akito? How- how could you? How did you find out?" Rin's eyes began swimming with tears and she quickly held them back. "I-I-I saw you two the other day, at the park. I just got so jealous, remembering how we used to be like that…and…I wanted to be like that again. I knew we could never be that way again with her in the picture. So I let it slip to Akito, hoping he would just forbid you to see her. I never imagined he would hurt you so badly. I was a stubborn and selfish horse…"

Haru sighed as he slowly got up, careful not to bump his bruises. "Rin…you don't know what you've done. Not only did Akito hurt me, but he will probably hurt Lila, as well. I have to go find her. I have to make sure she is okay."

"Why? Why do you care about her so much?"

Haru turned to look at her, a glow around his face. "I finally realized something, Rin. It was there all along, but it just now dawned on me. Lila is special. She is the only one who can keep me from becoming my other self. I didn't realize just how important she was to me until just now." He smiled brightly before walking out the door to find Lila.

The freedom he had felt had blossomed into something more. It had turned into something much more powerful. He was so happy at this moment in time, despite his bruises and concern. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs. In fact, that is just what he did. If you had walked down the street just then, you would've seen a grinning boy with spiky white hair stop, look towards the sky, and yell, "I love her! I love Lila Aso!"

"Hello, Miss Aso, please come in." Shigure smiled as Lila cautiously walked into the house. She ran the whole way and she was out of breath, but she wasted no time in asking whether or not Haru was there. "I'm afraid not. We have not seen him since yesterday afternoon. He is no longer staying with us. He went back home, you see. Would you like me to pass along a message?"

Lila shook her head, and after bidding them farewell, she started the long walk home. Her mind fell on the old woman and then on what she had to do the next day. It was a Saturday and she planned on spending it with Risu. Little did she know that across town, in a crisp, almost too-bright hospital room, the sound of knitting needles began to slow down and the old woman prayed that they wouldn't have to stop completely.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it has taken SOOOOO long to get the next chapter up. These past months have been insane! But I am back and ready to finish getting this thing up. For the most part I am done but I might make a few adjustments to the end if I see fit. Keep the reviews coming and enjoy chapter 6!


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